Grocery stores take full advantage of Sunday opening

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Most Finnish grocery stores and department stores took full advantage on Sunday of new legislation allowing year-round Sunday trading from noon to 6:00 PM. Smaller shops were not as interested in staying open on Sundays.
      The law has actually been in effect from the beginning of December, but pre-Christmas, and summertime Sunday trading have been permitted in Finland since 1994.
      With the exception of car showrooms and agricultural retailers, there was widespread utilisation of the new regulations.
     
“Sunday sales have been profitable in the summer and before Christmas in our department stores, and we plan to make good market days out of permanent Sunday openings as well. For us it means that all departments, including our fine food counters, will be kept open, so that people will find what they have come for even on Sundays.”, says Maisa Romanainen, director of the department store group of Stockmann.
      Romanainen notes that Stockmann has had good experiences with Sunday openings in Russia and the Baltic Countries.
     
The Citymarket chain linked with the Kesko Group plans to take full advantage of the new opening hours at least through this year, says K-Citymarket CEO Ari Akseli.
      He feels that the new law will clarify the rules on store openings, which have been complicated so far; according to one item of customer feedback, “not even the prince of darkness” could figure out the rules before.
     
There are many shift workers, and others, for whom Sunday opening is beneficial, Akseli points out.
      “Customers also have a different attitude when coming into a store when they are not in a hurry. Especially large purchases requiring consideration are suitable for Sundays”, Akseli says.
     
Stores of the Anttila chain, which is also part of the Kesko Group, will consider their Sunday trading policies on a case-by-case basis. Anttila’s Kodin Ykkönen stores will stay upen until 5:00 PM Sundays, and some of the other Anttila outlets will close at 4:00 in the afternoon, depending on where they are located. Anttila CEO Matti Leminen notes that the time of the launch of the Sunday trading is not the best possible, as February is one of the quietest periods for retailers.
      “Sunday opening will be implemented where it is possible, but Sunday hours are so expensive that we will not implement the maximum opening hours everywhere. On the basis of several years we know when customers come, and when they stop coming”, Leminen says.
      The Anttila store in the Tikkurila area of Vantaa will not open on Sunday at all, because it is so near another Anttila in the Jumbo shopping mall.
     
The Prisma and Terra shops of the S-Group will take full advantage of the new opening hours, says Risto Pyykönen, who is responsible for chain coordination and acquisitions of the group. He notes that Sunday opening evens out the weekend rush, and that it also reflects on what happens on Monday.
      “When we get the logistics of foodstuffs to operate in such a way that we can stock shelves during weekends as well, it will soon be seen in better availability of perishable goods on Mondays”, Pyykönen predicts.
     
Specialised shops largely opposed the new Sunday trading provisions. However, some of them decided to opt for staying open on Sundays. Boutiques in the east of Finland took advantage of the surge of Russian tourists.
      Tiina Oksala, managing director of the Speciality Goods Retailers' Association, predicts that some small clothing stores will test Sunday trading in early January.
      “I predict that after that, most specialised shops will not be open, except in shopping centres, where they have no other choice. February is a fairly quiet time in commerce anyway”, Oksala says.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Poll: Clear majority of Finns favour Sunday trading (22.10.2009)
  Sunday opening to be permitted year round from 2010 (22.5.2009)
  Union narrowly agrees to year-round Sunday trading (14.11.2008)

Links:
  Supermarket chains satisfied, but specialty shops disappointed with freeing of opening hours (29.5.2009)

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